As an electronic component operates, the electron flow within the component generates heat. If this heat is not removed, or dissipated, the electronic component may not operate correctly and may become damaged. Typically, the heat generated by the electronic component is dissipated by a cooling means, such as an aluminum (Al) or copper (Cu) heat sink which absorbs and dissipates the heat via direct air convection. These conventional heat sinks are well known in the electronics industry and are used extensively to dissipate heat generated by electronic components used in computers and various other electronic equipment.
Moreover, improvements in integrated circuit (IC) design and fabrication techniques are allowing IC manufacturers to produce smaller IC devices and other electronic components which operate at increasingly faster speeds and which perform an increasingly higher number of operations. As the operating speed and operational parameters of an electronic component increases, so too does the heat generated by these components. As a result, conventional aluminum (Al) and/or copper (Cu) heat sink designs gave way to current state-of-the-art graphite-epoxy finned heat sink designs, thus allowing for a faster and larger heat dissipation capability.
However, these graphite-epoxy finned heat sink designs have two main disadvantages. The first disadvantage is that current finned heat sink designs are mechanically fragile, thus allowing graphite-epoxy material to be ejected from the heat sink resulting in the contamination of neighboring electronic hardware with graphite-epoxy debris. Current methods to combat this problem include electroplating the finished heat sink assembly with electroless nickel. However, because electroless nickel is mechanically highly stressed, the nickel plating may easily peel. In addition, corrosion may occur due to plating solution becoming trapped within the crevices of the heat sink. Moreover, electroless nickel plating is expensive, adding to the already expensive manufacturing process.
The second disadvantage is that the graphite-epoxy composite is difficult to join to metals using conventional soldering operations, thus resulting in an increase in manufacturing/production cost and complexity.